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Sully : hey best man.
Sully : i think we should wear similar coats for the reception
Sully : no wait i can't. I'm the groom.
Sully : yo would you wear pink to my wedding?
Sully : you know what, scratch that. Vienna would kill me if I had a pink wedding.
Sully : would you be down to wearing a green tux instead?
Sully : olive green would look cool on you. blue eyes and all
Sully : HELLO? can you see my texts????????
Sully : I know you're here.
Sully : KYST MAN COME ON
I groaned, the dinging and the vibrating of my phone due to the instant upheveal of messages driving me insane.
Agreeing to becoming Sully's best man to his wedding, hands down, was the worst decision I'd made so far. I had only agreed yesterday night and since then, there were about a hundred messages on my phone from him asking me about whether he should colour his hair or what colour he should use to colour his hair or what kind of tux he should wear or what colour of roses he should add to the vases or if he should have roses at all.
I hadn't replied to a single text of his since yesterday and yet he kept bombarding my phone like he didn't have a huge, billion-dollar company to run. In his defence, it was a Sunday and currently the clock had struck three and I was still in my bed but I didn't have a fiance like him. If I had a fiance and a day-off, I'd be spending my entire day with her and not texting and pestering someone until they wanted to die.
Sighing, I grabbed my phone and opened my text thread with him. The same stuff but this time he'd made it about me.
His wedding was two months away, which I understood did not leave them too much time to get everything ready but I'd be fine with handling my own suits and clothes. I was about to text him that he shouldn't bother with my clothes when —
Me : why would Vienna kill you if you had a pink wedding?
Sully's reply came in an instant, as if he had been sitting on his phone, waiting for me to give him a thumbs-up so he could type to his heart's content.
Sully : because she wants a pink wedding. that's all she would ever talk about when we dated.
Me : YOU AND VIENNA DATED????
Sully : no! no jeez, I meant when Savannah and I dated; as in when we started dating - fuck this, Sav's distracting me, gotta go.
Sully : TELL ME THE COLOUR OF YOUR TUX YOU'D LIKE TO WEAR! I'll have them made at our industry. finest material, all free for you, my best man. okay bye.
What the fuck just happened? And wait, Vienna wanted a pink wedding? That God awful colour? Just how much did a person had to be obsessed with a colour for them to have a wedding of that theme? It was ridiculous. But surprisingly, I didn't mind it.
I had a pink scrunchie in my pocket for God's sake. Her pink scrunchie to be specific. I had seen her the most confident, looking jaw-droppingly gorgeous in her pink blouses and pants. She had this habit of applying something pinkish on her lips that made them shine and every time she puckered them, they'd look so plump and kissable-
My phone buzzed. Again. Tilting my head to the side, I released a breath, getting ready to ask Sully to give me a little while to atleast decide what I wanted to wear before forcing me to choose.
But it wasn't Sully.
It was my sister, Lily. And her text was just as weird and without any context as her.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : your dreams are about to come true, big bro.
This was typical Lily. When she texted me, she made absolutely no sense at all. Her texts from the last few weeks consisted of heavily criticizing me for literally anything to being overly sweet for no reason just so I would help her out with her apartment hunting in London.
I scrolled down, her texts making me laugh and offended at the same time.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : dude you're ugly.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : some woman at the cafeteria just claimed to orgasm with your name 🤮 please have the washrooms cleaned.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : mom and dad hate you because I'm their favourite.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : do you think the ear piercing makes you look hot? you look like a tadpole.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : duuuuuuuuude, so you should really, really, really forget all the texts I sent you this week.
Lily (the unwanted brat) : you're the most handsome person on earth, I'll clean the washrooms myself, mom and dad literally HATE me and you look like a very handsome tadpole, seriously
Lily (the unwanted brat) : so do you wanna help me out with finalising my apartment?
I'd always wanted a younger sibling and when mom and dad had told me about Lily, I had been the happiest person on earth. Then Lily came. And like every other annoying, little sister, she would enter herself everywhere in my business.
My friends- a handful that I had during school- would coo all over her, showering her with compliments and bringing her chocolates when they'd visit my house for playing games or doing projects. Even though Lily was only two years younger than me, being the youngest in the house, she had everyone wrapped around her pinky finger, even our extended family.
Lily had a way with her words that I never had. She could make someone love her instantly by just even smiling in their direction and they'd be smitten. She had the skills to run a company and while I was proud of her, I was confused.
Because even after being so skilled and talented, her stupid habit of random texting never ceased to amaze me.
I read the text again :
Lily : your dreams are about to come true, big bro.
What dreams?
Irritated and entirely drained from having to deal with Sully and Lily on my day-off, I turned off my phone, put on a pyjama set and stumbled down the stairs of my penthouse and into the kitchen to make myself some lunch.
Well, late lunch.
||
I understood what Lily meant by my dreams coming true at exactly 9:47pm when my phone buzzed with a new message and I paused some rom-com I'd been watching to pass my time.
Ms. Bell : Date Me, Mr. Archer.
I pinched my arm. Hard. And winced loudly. Not a dream, checked. Lily had said something about my dreams coming true so this was definitely not a dream, because right now, as she'd said, they were coming true.
My first reaction to this text was a hell fucking yes, Vi darling, but now that it had been a long three minutes in silence from her side and no explanatory text, I was contemplating my overly hyped reaction.
Would I date Vienna if she ever asked me to? My pulse picked up. I think I would. I had been in relationships before, sure, but I didn't remember even one of them making me feel as giddy and nervous as I felt when I was with Vienna.
I stared at the text, long and hard.
Date Me, Mr. Archer. Fuck if the Mr. Archer part wasn't a huge turn on.
Now I was glaring at the text.
Vivid images of Vienna laughing flashed across my eyes. I'd never made her laugh but I'd seen her laugh to her heart's content during her lunch breaks with Lily or just last night when Sully had made a piss-poor joke about Vienna's height being the same as it had been during highschool. And I wanted to be the one to make her laugh.
Everything about her was exquisite. Her brown eyes, her obsession with the colour pink, the way she owned her outfits, her confidence, her sass, and oh god, her body was to absolutely die for. She did things to my heart I couldn't explain.
I didn't know what it was that she felt for me. But whatever I felt for her was strong and it was growing rapidly, like a wildfire in a forest, Vienna was making home for herself in my heart and I couldn't do a thing about it, even if I wanted to.
Completely confused and high on hope, I texted her back.
Me : meet me at my office tomorrow.
Ms. Bell : please don't say, no.
Ms. Bell : look I know what I said might've come out. . . . very suggestively. . .
Ms. Bell : I assure you I didn't mean it that way
Ms. Bell : No. . . no I mean I meant it that way. . . I just. . . ugh it's so hard to type, I'll just call.
I didn't even have a second to process the bombardment of her texts when my phone rung in my hand. Flinching at the sudden, loud noise, I jerked backward, my phone dropping from my hand, hitting the floor with a loud thud.
I bent down, cursing myself for being a klutz, and attempted to sit straighter— fuck— as I hit my head on the edge of the glass coffee table and my head flooded with excruciating, mind-numbing pain.
I clutched the phone tighter in my hand and suddenly her voice filled the air as I cradled my head with another hand and sat back on the couch, "Mr. Archer, I'm so so sorry, I didn't mean to come off like tha— "
"Vienna," I croaked out, vague stars dancing in my vision. My head spun and I felt dizzy, a sudden sort of lethargy crawling up my spine as I groaned again, "Doctor— ," I gasped, choking on air. My eyes closed on their own accord but I forcefully snapped them back open and exhaled, "Get me a doc— doctor, ple— please."
My vision went dead and shot back to life instantly, a sheet of darkness like a wave settling over my body, rendering me numb.
"Are you okay? Mr. Archer— " I saw blood on my fingers and that's when a wave of realisation hit towards me, swift and sudden. And then everything went black.
||
"Kyst, Kyst, oh my god— " I heard a loud gasp. Somewhere a door closed and the thud of keys dropping onto my carpeted floors made me aware of where I was.
On my couch. Almost unconscious, lying sideways. I didn't know what time it was or for how long I'd been sleeping. The last thing I remembered was talking to Vienna on the phone and I had been asking for a doctor—
"Kyst, Ky— Mr. Archer," a voice called, softly. Two velvety hands framed my face, softly hitting my right cheek. Something cold was pressed to my dry lips and I parted them slowly, a throaty groan escaping my lips as the cold water from the glass sloshed down my throat.
"Vienna. . . is he going to be okay?" another female voice filled my living room and I slowly opened my eyes as they shut instantly on their own again, feeling the LED lights someone had turned turned on in my house excruciatingly burning.
Lifting my eyelids again, I blinked a couple times, adjusting to the blinding brightness.
Holding me, right in front of my face, just besides me, was Vienna. Worry was marred on her face and her eyes savored my face with a fervous intensity, anguish and fear very palpable on her face.
Her eyes met mine and they softened just as my breathing picked up. She leaned forward and whispered right by my lips, "I'm so sorry for this, Mr. Archer." And then as soon as I felt her soft lips on my forehead, I was a goner. My eyes snapped shut on their own accord, feeling the softness of her lips on my skin.
Without giving it another thought, I brought my hands up, wrapping them around her torso. She collapsed against me on the couch, lifted my head up slightly and placed it on her chest. "You scared me," she said, very meekly, just enough for me to hear. "Are you okay?"
I craned my neck slightly, looking at her brown, gorgeous eyes. She was exquisite and the fact that I'd never held her this close before, it drove me crazy. Her fingers dove into my hair and she combed her fingers through them, entangling the knots.
This was heaven. Her with me, near me, me in her arms and peace. The thought that came next was uncalled for and it stole my breath right away from my damn throat: I could die like this without a regret.
"What happened?" I asked hoarsely, pulling brakes on the wildest thoughts my brain was having. Needing something to hold onto; some sort of distraction, I brought both of Vienna's hands to my front, placing them on my chest from behind.
"We were on the call and- and you gasped," she said. I could feel her turning away from me and then she was getting up. I didn't even get a chance to stop her from retracting herself from me before she got up and stood by my side. She looked down at me and said, "You— I was terrified. You said something about the doctor and I— I panicked. I'm so sorry, I was so confused I didn't know what to do so I called the doctor and came here with— "
"Kyst?" Lily. That was Lily. She came around from the kitchen and released a loud breath. I saw the dried tears on her cheeks, her red, puffed up eyes and immediately sat up straighter, opening my arms for her.
My head hurt like a fucking bitch, the sudden jolt of me lifting my head to sit straighter sending a zap of painful shock straight down my spine.
Lily sidestepped Vienna and soaked into my side, her arms going around my neck, her face on my shoulder. She sniffled loudly, making me smile and her small, fisted hand landed square on my chest. "Don't laugh, you asshole. I was so afraid I'd— that something happened to you— you motherfucker! Did mom and dad allow you to live alone so you could go around, attempting to die in our faces? You— Ugh, you're so—"
"Lily," I mumbled and held her shoulders, pulling back from the hug. Her face was overcome with new tears, her cheeks dark red and eyes swollen. "I'm fine," I assured her. "It's okay. I'm alive."
The door bell rang at that exact moment and Vienna sauntered off towards the door. The realisation sunk in me at the same time it did in Lily and she turned to look at me with a newfound scare.
"What are you going to tell her?" she asked me, her eyes filled with sympathy and love. No matter how many times she'd claimed to hate me, it would be evident, even to a blind person, right now that Lily didn't really hate me as much as she claimed to.
I grinned. My eyes tracked the length of my house until it found the door where Vienna had just run off to and she opened the door, letting Dr. Reid in.
Vienna turned around and walked cutely behind Dr. Reid just as Lily came to sit down besides me. She turned my palm face-up on my thigh and entwined her fingers with mine. She was still overcome with the fear, I could tell that just by the tremble in her body besides mine.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and tugged her towards my side. "Lily," I scolded, a little sternly. "I told you I'm fine. I'm not leaving your annoying ass so soon. Not yet, lil sis." She nodded and let out a whimper, instantly cringing at the sound the extreme next second and slapped her hand to her mouth.
She lifted her eyes to look at me and being the most vulnerable that I had seen her in my life, she murmured, "You're not going anywhere." Her fingers tightened around my own and I saw fear evade her features again. "Right?"
I sighed, nodding and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead just as Dr. Reid, followed by Vienna came around the corner.
Her eyes tracked my movements. My hand entwined my Lily and an arm around her shoulder, she saw the kiss I placed on Lily's forehead because I instantly felt a drop in the atmosphere. Vienna's skin paled and I saw the colour drain from her face.
Did she— did she think Lily and I— I gagged. Literally. In front of our family doctor, infront of Lily, mostly in front of Vienna and her eyes widened.
"Are you— "
"She thinks there's something between me and you," I interrupted Lily and pointed at Vienna.
"What!?" Lily's own eyes widened and she unclasped our hands, getting on her feet and shrugged off the place of her shoulder where my hand had been. "Ew, no— Oh my god," she directed this at Vienna and scowled in a funny way. "How could you even think? Me? Him? Awk."
I scoffed, feeling insulted. "I wouldn't date you eithe— "
"Mr. Archer," Dr. Reid slid in and held my face in his hands, interrupting mine and Lily's feud. "Who bandaged your head?"
Someone bandaged my head? I hadn't even felt something tied around my head until Dr. Reid mentioned it and my hand shot up to feel something like a surgical wrap wrapped around my head. "I didn't, I'm not sure, Dr. Reid."
"I— I did," Vienna muttered, the colour finally returning to her cheeks. Her eyes left the ground and she stared up at me. I flashed her a soft smile and she quickly averted her gaze away, blushing. "When Lily was in the kitchen calling her parents, I found a medical kit under the television set and since he was bleeding a lot, I— I cleaned whatever blood I could and applied some antiseptic before wrapping it. He was still unconscious then, I think. I hope it's okay. . . . I didn't know what to do and— "
"No, you did amazing. Good job with cleaning the wound," Dr. Reid praised her and opened the wrap slowly to examine the wound. I winced, feeling Dr. Reid touching around my wound and asking me questions about where it hurt and how it happened.
Dr. Reid had been our family doctor ever since I was young and there was no doubt that Lily called him while they were on their way. However, I still couldn't understand how Vienna thought of bringing Lily here or how she reached here so fast and the suspense was killing me.
"You just lost your consciousness due to loss of blood but it's not that serious. Thankfully you didn't entirely hit the edge of the table so you do not need stitches but make sure to eat nutritious food for a while and take these medicines on time for a couple months," Dr. Reid advised. He handed my a slip of the prescribed medicines and quickly led himself out of the door, muttering me a healthy recovery.
And now, finally, with a little quiet in my house, I turned to Vienna to thank her but that exact moment, the door bell rang but this time Lily rushed off to the door. Vienna speculated the wound on my head, her face crumbling in pain. "Does it hurt?" she asked.
I shook my head, a chuckle escaping my lips at her cuteness. "No. It doesn't hurt all that much." When she just tilted her head at me and gnawed at her bottom lip in scepticism, it was my undoing. I reached over to her and pulled her besides me. Lifting my fingers to her lower lip, I tugged it free and her lips parted open in shock, her palpitations increasing. "Really," I whispered more sternly and only when she nodded, did I pull away, only to find her cheeks and neck flushed deep red.
She searched my eyes for a second and something that must've been bothering her finally sunk in because she gasped and pulled back, shifting a little away from me on the sofa. "I'm so sorry about the text. I didn't know about Lily and you. If I had known— " she shook her head wildly and assualted her lower lip again, "I would never have- trust me, she never told me you guys were— I promise I didn't know-"
"Vienna." I called out, my voice hoarse and stern.
"Yeah?"
"Lily. She's my sister."
And that was when I heard chaos from the foyer.
Enter Mom and Dad. And Lily. And Vienna sitting by my side, her eyes stretched to her eye-brows, shock and confusion etched in them.
This was going to be one hell of a night.
But was I ready for it?
||
Okay before I start, literally SO much happened this week: we hit one thousand reads (WHAT THE FUCK?), Date Me, Mr. Archer got it's first ever win in the romance category in an awards called "The Snow Crystal Awards" (FIRST PRIZE!!!!) and my exams started (BLEH), oh and our story officially hit a 100 votes as well!
Honestly, this week was way too overwhelming but I'm not complaining AT ALL. This is amazing. And I want it to keep coming.
If you're interested in more of my works, I just submitted a story for #ONC2023 so if you're into mafia, high-school, fantasy, dark-romance, then this book is for you. It's called, "The Wink." Check out the description of the book and read it if it intrigues you! Let me know what you feel about it.
DID YOU LIKE THIS PART? i love cliffhangers these days, A LOT.
Thanks for reading<3
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(will come back tomorrow to edit this chapter)